Best way to source a new car?

[36valley]

Hi, my wife has decided she wants a new Mercedes when she retires in a couple of weeks time. So I've been tasked with finding the best deal for her. Problem is, It's been more than 25 years since I last bought a new car from a main dealer. I'm guessing there must be more options than just beating a salesman down on price these days. I guess my question is how effective and trustworthy are the online car finder sites and can anyone recommend any they've used or know about, and any other options there might be to get a good deal.

Cheers,
Pete.

 

[mmm-five]

To purchase outright?

Carwow seems to be popular.

 

[Anonymous]

Broadspeed offer a good service and have been going for decades. Two years ago I wanted to buy a new Audi Q3. Got a good price offer in writing from a broker (only problem was the dealer offering the best price was 200 miles away). I'd been to my local dealer previously and hadn't been offered anything like the same deal but I thought I'd go back and try again - showed them the competitive quote and said I was ready to order immediately and to my surprise they agreed to match it. Maybe I was lucky with the timing and them needing to reach sales targets, but I was happy to pocket the £3500 saving and not have to travel to the other side of the country.

 

[metal licker]

Broadspeed offer a good service and have been going for decades. Two years ago I wanted to buy a new Audi Q3. Got a good price offer in writing from a broker (only problem was the dealer offering the best price was 200 miles away). I'd been to my local dealer previously and hadn't been offered anything like the same deal but I thought I'd go back and try again - showed them the competitive quote and said I was ready to order immediately and to my surprise they agreed to match it. Maybe I was lucky with the timing and them needing to reach sales targets, but I was happy to pocket the £3500 saving and not have to travel to the other side of the country.

+1 Get a price from the online guys then ask local dealer to beat

 

[36valley]

Yes it's a cash purchase, which probably works against us as the dealers not getting anything from the finance side of things.
I'll give Broadspeed and Carwow a go and see what they come up with.

Cheers,
Pete

 

[cerbera]

Have used drivethedeal in the past. Worth a look if you're shopping around.

 

[Zed Five]

Yes it's a cash purchase, which probably works against us as the dealers not getting anything from the finance side of things.
I'll give Broadspeed and Carwow a go and see what they come up with.

Cheers,
Pete

I always buy cash. Have two cars that you'd be happy with and fight the dealers for your money. With cash you can go anywhere, so if they want your business they have to yield. Once they do, leave it and then go for one last push.

 

[Angelus666]

Some basic rules to follow.....go in at the end of the quarter, it'll significantly improve your chance of getting the best discount possible on the car as they'll be looking to hit volume for their manufacturer rebate number (sometimes even taking a loss on one car to hit the bigger number).....and maybe don't tell them you're a cash buyer upfront...tell them you're a definite buyer but are 'open' to finance options to haggle the price.

As an FYI the salesman gets more commission dollar from your customer satisfaction survey response than from actually selling the car, so be nice to him, tell him you'll give him 5 stars and he'll do his best to give you a good deal.

 

[Angelus666]

Although, if you've got cash why would you buy any Mercedes new is crazy....the quickest way to lose real money is to buy a brand new Merc. Get a 2 year old one and save 40% on the new price!

 

[Ducklakeview]

Although, if you've got cash why would you buy any Mercedes new is crazy....the quickest way to lose real money is to buy a brand new Merc. Get a 2 year old one and save 40% on the new price!

This....

Or a dealer demo - My neighbour recently came home ion a fully loaded 7 month old XJL, managing directors car at Hatfield Jag - Car listed at just short of £86k with the options, was up on the forecourt at £53k....

Mike

 

[Twin Turbo]

All good advice, also try car wow, and coast2coast

Purchased a Honda CR-V Black Edition listed at £35,000 in show room from my local Honda Garage with 12k discount & service pack. So over 30% discount

Have deals from other places, as it helps your position to negotiate. - But more importantly, see what pre-registered stock they have and need to shift.

I find giving the sales person lots of supportive information, stops the visits to the sales manager/business manager or general manager. Give him the tools to give you a great deal.

 

[Zed Five]

+1 on dealer demo. My car had done 1000miles and I saved £14k. Brand new is a daft approach. Just shop for the colour and options and take your time.

sweet is the taste of driving home in a brand smelling car with £14k saved, plus the model, colour and options you wanted from a new car

 

[jamiez]

+1 on dealer demo. My car had done 1000miles and I saved £14k. Brand new is a daft approach. Just shop for the colour and options and take your time.

sweet is the taste of driving home in a brand smelling car with £14k saved, plus the model, colour and options you wanted from a new car

Could not agree more.

 

[IRD]

Lots of good advice. Another company that has been around for a long time with a good reputation is Carfile. Take a look at their website it will give you some guidance on prices. Don't dismiss the main dealers completely. We have just purchased a new BMW from a main dealer because we got the best deal there. We went along intending to buy nearly new, as we have done in the past. However BMW is offering a series of financial incentives at the moment to dealers and it turned out to be cheaper to buy brand new rather than buying their demo. At the moment if you borrow any money from BMW finance they will give you £4795. So we borrowed the minimum amount and then paid it back straightaway. We incurred an interest charge of £300 and so received £4495 as a bonus free of charge plus a big discount on the car itself. The deal was the best I could find anywhere. Good luck with your research.

 

[Sae]

One more thing, do you have a set spec/config in mind or do you have flexible spec.
The carwow and broadspeed guys seem like a good deal, however mojority of their best deals (10%+ off) are based on new cars already in stock or demos etc.
If you ask them for New build orders then the discounts are significantly less and obvs have a delivery schedule possibly going into 3-4 months.
If you are willing to move on spec you are more likely to get a deal as you may be lucky enough that there is a new car with your spec in uk stock somewhere.

Good luck with the hunting

 

[36valley]

Many thanks for the replies and advice, all greatly appreciated.
Agree about the savings to be had buying nearly new rather than brand new. Indeed that was the intention up until 2pm Sunday. That was when she fell in love with Hyacinth Red! While we were really looking for a C class Coupe, she saw a SLC in Hyacinth Red on the forecourt of a dealer and if hadn't already been sold it would have been coming home with us there and then.
The colour is a £890 special order and not very common/popular. Not quite up there with Unicorn rarity, but close. Hence the decision to look at new cars.
Were both aware that by being so specific on the colour were going to have to pay more than if we were flexible on colours and spec. That said this will probably be a car we keep for a long time and depreciation isn't such a big factor in the decision. The last Mercedes I bought new was still going strong at 225,000 miles until some twat decided to overtake me as I turned right of a main road into a side road. :x But then that was in a time when build quality was still as important as profit.

Cheers,
Pete.